Echoes of a Tarantula
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: In Mary's mind, Terry can't even begin to fathom why she never told him who his real father was, yet Catalina Flores showing up in town after Nightwing reappears brings everything rushing back. She chooses to confront the past, even only partly.


_Disclaimer – I don't own Batman, Batman Beyond or Nightwing. This is another one of my Write to Rank stories for the Wattpad action profile. This was for round 3. The goal of this round was to write an action story which involved dialogue between good and evil. For some reason the incident between Dick and Tarantula was stuck in my head. This yet again uses my alternative theory for Terry's origin. The story needed to be eight hundred words or less. I am STILL incorporating my alternative origin for Terry._

 _Note – If you don't know what the Tarantula incident is, be forewarned this contains mentioning of rape._

 **Echoes of a Tarantula**

"Your father's a self-sacrificing bastard who doesn't know what's good for him."

" _That's_ why you never told me who he was?" A curse escaped her older son's mouth.

"Were you expecting a different answer?"

"Yes, I was." Terry headed to the door, stopping a few feet short. "By the way. I _know_ my father is Nightwing, but I also know Nightwing is Matt's biological father, Dick Grayson."

Mary tensed. "Wait…"

Her son paused, turning slightly. "I'm going to go and see Grayson."

"You've not told him, have you?"

Terry's hand hovered just above the doorknob. "Why not? You're the one who cheated on dad nor did you tell Grayson you were married. I know he broke it off when he found out."

"It's complicated Terry."

"Whatever. No, I didn't tell him. He doesn't even realize the person he broke it off was you, but he acts like a real dad to Matt without even knowing, so what does it matter." The door clicked shut behind him, and Mary's fingers drummed against the countertop.

The phone ringing interrupted her train of thought. "Hello?"

" _Helena, it's Barbara. Barbara Gordon._ "

"You know I don't go by that name anymore. I gave up that life." After all, Terry entered her life quite unexpectedly, and Warren stepped up despite knowing the boy wasn't his.

" _Catalina Flores is in town._ "

Mary felt her blood go cold. " _What_ do you _mean_ she's in town?"

" _She's in town because Nightwing came back from the dead._ "

"That bitch."

"Mom?"

Matt stared at her, his eyes wide. "Matt, can I trust you by yourself for a bit?"

 **~B~**

" _Querido_ …" The woman looked down in through the skylight of the building. "Who is this young man with _my_ _querido_? Hmm…"

Huntress grabbed Tarantula from behind, spinning the woman around. Pulling back her fist, she felt her gloved hand make contact with the other woman's jaw, sending the woman thudding against the skylight. She paid no mind to the fact those down below could hear what was going on. "Stay away from Nightwing. Do you hear me?"

The woman's lip bled, and she spat on the ground. "What's it to you? Jealous I had more than a one-night stand with him?"

"Rapist."

The word managed to tick Tarantula off, and the woman pulled out her gun. "Rapist! I'm no rapist!"

The gun went off, yet Huntress managed to dodge aside despite the rustiness of her skills. "Yes, you are!"

" _Querido_ loved every moment. _Querido_ didn't fight back."

" _Querido_ said no. Querido…" Tarantula pointed her gun again, yet Huntress dodged, knowing full well her opponents rage got the better of her most of the time. "…wasn't in a position to fight back."

"Only I get to call him _querido_!" The other woman raised her gun, and another shot went off. Huntress' mind went numb, her body freezing up. She'd not registered Tarantula preparing to shoot again, yet the hissing sound and dropping of the gun told her the shot came from someone else.

"Don't call my _hermoso querido perrita._ "

"You mean _hermano_ and _perra_ Redhood." Huntress rolled her eyes, wondering how many people Barbara contacted.

"No. I meant to say, ' _don't call my brother_ _querido_ _bitch'_."

"You told her, ' _don't call my beautiful_ _querido_ _puppy_." She recognized the voice of Tim. Which left…

"What the _hell_ are you doing!"

Okay, so not Damien but Terry. However, the question remained regarding _where_ Damien was, until she saw a shadow move towards the young vigilante before taking form as her half-brother's sword glinted in the moonlight, the blade at Terry's throat, catching the teenager off guard. "If you'll handle her, I'll handle this imposter Batman."

Another person moved, their gloved hand gripping the blade tightly before speaking firmly. "No."

The man let out an irritated sound before lowering his blade, deciding he'd finally point the blade at Tarantula instead. The female whined, stepping forward, which caused Jason's gun to click in a warning manner, and Damien to lift his sword. " _Querido_ , you won't let them hurt me, will you?"

She barely moved, and yet Nightwing's tone changed. "Stay away. _Don't_ touch me."

"Come on _querido_. We made love to each other."

"I _said_ no."

"Maybe that one time…" Huntress watched the newest Batman tense up, knowing full well a certain someone _had_ his father's temper when it came to injustices, but how that at times proved problematic. "But the other times, you never said…"

Terry moved forward, quickly clocking the woman in the jaw. He then cracked his knuckles, giving an amazing bat glare. "Get out of Gotham. Now. And don't come back."

Tarantula swallowed, before running.

Jason let out a cough. "Huntress, are you ever going to tell…"

Huntress gave her own bat glare. "Later."

Nightwing seemed confused, but Terry knew what she meant earlier.


End file.
